Tim Lambesis, singer for the heavy metal band As I Lay Dying, was arrested yesterday near San Diego on charges that he tried to hire an undercover detective to kill his estranged wife. San Diego County Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Jan Caldwell said the police learned late last week that Lambesis was seeking someone to carry out the murder. “We acted quickly on it,” Caldwell said, as reported by Reuters. “I believe that we averted a great tragedy.”

Meggan Lambesis had sought a dissolution of marriage in San Diego Superior Court last September. Caldwell was thin on details, saying the ongoing investigation prevented her from shedding light on why Lambesis wanted his wife dead or how police initially learned of the plan.

Although As I Lay Dying have been described as a Christian band, the musicians have downplayed the tag. “Five or so years ago when magazines would try and press that point we decided to stay silent on the spiritual topic so that they would have to pay attention to our music and nothing more. We didn’t preach at our shows, our goal has always been to just write the best music we can write,” Lambesis told Noisecreep in January. “Religion has some influence on the things that we write about just like all of our life experiences do but as a band, we want to be judged on the music rather than what our personal beliefs are.”

The metalcore group released their latest album, Awakened, last September.